Saturday, January 22, 2005

Paul Martin is now claiming that he is willing to hold an election on the issue of gay marriage. Because he is all about human rights. He is and Stephen Harper isn't. Because as we all know, Paul Martin has been fighting for same sex marriage rights the early days of the battle. That's why he has now twice voted in parliament to define marriage as the "union of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others".

It is great to be a Liberal in this country. Seriously some days I wonder if it wouldn't be worth it to just give up my principles join the party and run for office. Because you can pretty much say whatever you want and nobody ever calls you on it.

Meanwhile in China this week Conservative Jason Kenney (who I have always thought of as a slimy weasel in the past) visited the home of Zhao Ziyang to pay his respects to the former Chinese politician who died last week. Zhao had been under house arrest since the Tiananmen Square Massacres, when he was the only Chinese leader willing to voice his opposition to the actions of the government. So, given that he is all about human rights, Paul Martin is falling over himself to offer Kenney praise, right? Well, no not exactly. It seems that Paul cares a little more about trade than he does about human rights, when it comes to China. He announced that he is "...quite disappointed that Mr. Kenney was not prepared to respect the family's feelings". Paul is pretending to believe the lie that Zhao's family has asked to be left alone, when actually it is the Chinese government who has been working to make sure that their is no public outpouring of grief for Mr. Zhao. It was the death of a similarly beloved reformer that led to the Tiananmen Square movement in the first place.

Listen Paul, I don't care if you want to be a weaselly sack of shit who cares nothing for people and only for money. That's your business. But then don't go around saying that the principles of human rights mean so much to you that you're willing to hold elections on them. Because (newsflash) things do not become human rights because the Supreme Court of Canada says they are. The very definition of Human Rights is that they are the inalienable rights of all human beings across the world, not just Canadians.